It is not clear how many of the Tunisian-built surveillance robots, called PGuards, have been deployed by the interior ministry.

The manufacturer, Enova Robotics, said it was a confidential matter. It also refused to reveal the price tag.

A four-wheeled PGuard has a thermal imaging camera and Lidar (light detection and ranging) technology, which works like radar but uses light instead of radio waves.

The interior ministry posted a video on Facebook about its futuristic mission to impose restrictions not long after the lockdown started.

Some welcomed the move, while others said the robot “moved too slowly” to be effective.

But several videos have since appeared on social media showing people being stopped by a PGuard. In one a man, who is asked if he knows there is an ongoing lockdown, explains that he wants to buy cigarettes.

The firm, which has its headquarters in the coastal city of Sousse, also produces a “healthcare” robot, he said.

It can give a preliminary visual diagnosis and use its sensors to measure certain things – and one will be soon be working at a hospital in Tunis.

This would help minimize physical contact between medics and patients with COVID-19, Mr. Farhat said.

Robotic technology and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly being used during these exceptional times as has been seen in China, which has used disinfecting robots and thermal camera-equipped drones amongst other gadgets to fight coronavirus.